


this isn't the start of anything

by erintoknow



Series: my brain has claimed it's glory over me [7]
Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén, Fallen Hero: Rebirth (Video Game)
Genre: Closeted Character, Exes, F/F, Gender Dysphoria, Gender Issues, POV Female Character, POV Second Person, POV Third Person Limited, Photography, Scrapbooks, Trans Character, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-26 06:23:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20737658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erintoknow/pseuds/erintoknow
Summary: Reclaiming items from your old life is a mixed bag.





	this isn't the start of anything

“If I have to hear you two bicker this whole time I’m going to flip this table.” Angie snaps at the both of you, putting her bowl down on the table. “Just get married already and spare the rest of us.”

You balk at her. “To _her?_” You jab a finger in Julia’s direction. You make a face. “Gross.”

“Excuse me?” Julia prods your shoulder with her fork. “I’m right here?”

“I know, it’s tragic fam.” You give her a pitying look and Julia huffs.

Julia jabs her fork at you again and you dodge. “Who even let you in here?”

“Uh, you did, hey?” You smirk. “You getting senile already you old bat?”

Angie puts her hands down on the table in a flare of frustration. “Okay, that’s it, I’m taking my lunch somewhere else.”

You click you tongue, “Hey, look, look, I’m sorry. It’s just, Jules is wrong about this, and she needs to accept it or perish.”

“You can’t prove anything you jackass, it was eleven years ago.”

Angie sighs, stirring her noodles. “Who cares? It’s not like you can pull out a video to prove it either way.”

You blink, snap your fingers and turn to Julia. “Look, alright, I got it. Okay. So.” Fidget under Julia’s gaze of mild irritation. “Look, I gotta ask. Ya still got…” you glance side to side. Just to confirm Chen or Herald aren’t going to spring out from around a corner, “…the goods?”

Julia stares at you. “The what?”

Wince, scratch your scalp, frown. “You know… the, the thing I used to do. Back before… dangit, com’on Jules, don’t leave me hangin’ like this.”

A slow light dawns on Julia’s face. “Oooooooooh.” She gets up from the table table, and holds a hand up to you and Angie. “You two. Wait right here. Don’t move.”

Angie raises an eyebrow. “Yeah, I’m gonna keep eating.”

You smirk at her, “She means don’t run for the hills, hey?”

The two of them watch as Julia scrambles out of the break room. Angie takes a breath and frowns into her bowl. “I’m going to regret not leaving when I had the chance, aren’t I.”

You nod your head. “Oh, absolutely.”

Angie is on her second bowl of noodles when Julia returns, a thick binder under one arm. “I had to go rooting around for it, but I knew I had kept it in with my office stuff for a reason.”

You and Angie watch her drop the tome on the table. Angie looks pointedly between the two of you, noodles halfway raised to her mouth. “A _scrapbook_?”

You cross your arms, suddenly not so confident in your grand plan. “Yeah, so maybe I did a little scrapbooking back in the day. So what, hey?”

Angie snorts, “You know what? I’m not even surprised by this one.”

“What does that mean!?”

Angie smirks, shaking her head as she refuses to answer, shoving more noodles in her face.

Julia carefully opens the unmarked white cover and starts gently flipping the pages, one by one. “I’m.. surprised actually, Crow.”

You jerk your head in her direction. “Wha? Why?”

“You knew I’d hold on to this?”

You frown, study the floor as you rub your nose. “I know you Jules, you’d cling on to somethin’ like that like nobody’s business.” You square up your shoulders, step towards the table, pushing Julia aside. “Com’on, we’re gonna kill Starshine here with second-hand embarrassment.”

You flip through the pages at a much faster rate than Julia had been, not giving her the chance to linger on any of the photos. It’s unsettling how well you remember putting this together. About halfway through the book you slow down and stop on a page, tapping the central photo. “See, I told you. We all dressed up as Power Rangers.”

That gets Angie’s attention. She sits up in her seat to lean in and get a look. “No shit?”

The page is centered with a group shot of you and the Rangers (minus Chen) each dressed up as a different Power Ranger for Halloween. The other pictures pasted onto the page are cut-outs, close ups of everyone’s costume and captions on who’s who.

You tap the two figures up front in the picture. “See, told ya, Jules was the Red Ranger, I was the blue one.”

Julia frowns, running a finger over the captions. “I can’t believe it. I could have sworn it was reversed.”

You blow a strand of hair out of your face with a ‘pfft,’ turn to face Angie. “Can you believe this woman? _Not_ going for the leader guy?”

Angie gives you a strange look. “Uh, yeah actually. Pretty easily.”

“Y–yeah well…” You grimace, pull at your shirt collar. “Maybe she’s changed in seven years.

“I’m right here Crow.”

You don’t turn around. “It almost like she’s here with us now…” Angie has to cover her mouth to hide the smirk on her face and you smile back at her.

“Oh! Oh look at this,” The tone in Julia’s voice gets you to turn back to the book again. It’s a different page now; a series of photos of you and Julia messing around with her old motorcycle. You’re not in any sort of costume in these pictures, and there’s something unsettling at seeing your younger face staring back at you. He’s got no idea what he’s in for, the poor bastard.

Angie leans in to look again, and suddenly you feel uncomfortable. There’s nothing you can do about Julia knowing this part of you, but…

“Huh.” Angie says, “You kept your hair pretty long back then.”

You pointedly avoid looking at her, “Y-yeah, well…”

“Crow could dress up pretty handsome back in the day, huh?” There goes Julia, turning the screws. Crow tries to keep his face blank. Don’t let on how he’s feeling.

Angie glances up, gives him a curious look. “I dunno… I was more think… pretty?” She smirks, pleased with herself as she watches Crow’s eyes widen in surprise.

Crow coughs into his hand, face warm “Yeah, g-great. Glad all the ladies love me.” He reaches over and shuts the binder before Julia can turn to another page. “Anyway, the moral of the story is that I was right, as always.”

“Crow!” Julia tries to bat his hand away from the scrapbook.

He fights her off, tucking the binder under his arm. “Thanks for your help, Starshine.”

She puts a hand to her forehead in a mock salute, “Sure thing, Catha.”

Julia blinks, looking between the two of them. “What’s going on here?”

“Well, I had to get my scrapbook back from you _somehow._” Crow shrugs.

“You could have just asked, you know.” Julia sighs, not hiding the hurt in her voice. “Why wouldn’t I have given it back?” She pauses, then frowns, narrowing her eyes. “Why? You aren’t planning to destroy it are you?”

“What? No, no!” Crow takes a step back from her, waving his hands in protest.

“You are, aren’t you!”

Angie stands up, stepping between them. “I can’t believe I have to be the one that says ‘chill out’ but here we are.”

Crow shifts the binder to his chest, holding it tight. “Damnit, I’m not going to trash it Julia, relax.”

“Then what?”

Angie sighs, puts a hand to her head. “They were probably planning to start adding to it again. Right, Crow?”

You grab on to her words like a life preserver, nod your head. “Chyeah, that was the whole plan.”

Julia crosses her arms, “So just say so to begin with!”

“I was embarrassed okay! Jeeze louise.” You glare at the floor in front of Julia’s shoes. “S’not like it’s a very _manly_ hobby.”

Angie barks out a laugh. “You’re standing in a room with a buff amazon and a… well, _me_. I think the world will survive your scrapbooking.”

“Crow…” Julia steps towards you, and you step back. “Seriously, I was glad to have it while you were…”

“Dead?”

“I was going to say, ‘away.’ It meant a lot to me, but if you wanted it back, you just had to ask.”

You huff, look her in the face. “Fine. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.”

“_You’re both welcome, by the way_.” Angie chimes in.

You glance at the window, squint with one eye then the other. “Are either of you busy right now?”

“No,” Julia says.

Angie glances at her noodle bowl growing cold on the table. “Well, I _have_ been desperately trying to eat my lunch, but what are you plotting?

You take a breath, look between the two of them. “First new picture for the book. How do you feel about climbing trees?”


End file.
